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Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

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Northwestern Hawaiian Islands NORTHWESTERN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) extend approximately 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) from Ni‘ihau and Kaua‘i to Kure Atoll in the north. They consist of ten main atoll systems, each of which has one or more islands. The total number of islands varies as storms and climate change affect the presence of some small, sandy islands. These islands and atolls are remnants of earlier volcanic high islands in the Hawaiian chain that pre-date the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) in the southeast. Most of the NWHI islands, except those in the extreme southeast, have little vertical relief and only sandy soils with little forest development. This reduced habitat variability means there are far fewer natural habitats and lower species diversity than found in the MHI. However, there is a high abundance of endemic species and other significant animal populations in the region because of the less intensive historical human impact. Six species of plants in the NWHI are federally protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The rocky islands in the southeast make excellent nesting areas for some cliff- nesting and other seabirds. Laysan Island has a large euryhaline lake that helps support the endemic and endangered Laysan ducks as well as some possibly unique aquatic fauna. Laysan and Nihoa also have extant populations of three other endemic birds that are endangered (Laysan finch, Nihoa finch, and Nihoa millerbird). All of the islands support large nesting populations of various seabird species. In total, approximately 14 million individuals from 18 species of seabirds nest in the NWHI (‘akē‘akē (Oceanodroma castro [band-rumped storm petrel]), noio (Anous minutus [black noddy]), ka‘upu (Phoebastria nigripes [black-footed albatross]), blue-gray noddy (Procelsterna cerulean), Bonin petrel (Pterodroma hypoleuca), ‘ā (Sula leucogaster [brown booby]), noio-kōhā (Anous stolidus [brown noddy]), ‘ou (Bulweria bulwerii [Bulwer’s petrel]), Christmas shearwater (Puffinus nativitatis), ‘ua‘u (Pterodroma sandwichensis [Hawaiian petrel]), pākalakala (Sterna lunata [gray-backed tern]), ‘iwa (Fregata minor [great frigatebird]), mōlī (Phoebastria immutabilis [Laysan albatross]), ‘ā (Sula dactylatra [masked booby]), ‘ā (Sula sula [red-footed booby]), koa‘e ‘ula (Phaethon rubricauda [red-tailed tropicbird]), ‘ewa‘ewa (Sterna fuscata [sooty tern]), ‘ua‘u kani (Puffinus pacificus [wedge-tailed shearwater]), manu-o-Kū (Gygis alba [white tern]), and koa‘e kea (Phaethon lepturus [white-tailed tropicbird])). The area is significant for having the majority of the worldwide breeding population of Laysan albatross (93%), black-footed albatross (95%), Bulwer’s petrels and Bonin petrels, and 25 percent of the worldwide population of wedge-tailed shearwaters. Many endemic terrestrial arthropods and land snails also occur in the NWHI. Many of the islands serve as nesting or pupping grounds for honu (Chelonia mydas agassizi [green sea turtles]) and ‘īlio-holo-i-ka-uaua (Monachus schauinslandi [Hawaiian monk seals]), both of which are protected by the ESA. Marine habitat here is dominated by atoll reef systems and thus differs from the MHI, which mostly have fringing coral reefs. The NWHI have extensive atoll formations with large lagoons and patch reef complexes separated from the open ocean in many areas. Many endemic marine species occur only in the NWHI. The communities here are also less impacted by humans and invasive species and are dominated by large numbers of predatory sharks and jacks and a higher diversity of stony Hawaii’s Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy 6-93 October 1, 2005 corals than in the MHI. Significant cultural resources in the form of Native Hawaiian archaeological sites and historic ship and airplane wrecks occur in the area. OVERVIEW Geology and Oceanography The total coastline of all islands in the NWHI measures approximately 50 kilometers (30 miles) and total land area, excluding Midway Atoll, is about 8 square kilometers (3.1 square miles). The age of the various islands and atolls ranges from 7.2 million year old Nihoa to 27.7 million year old Midway Atoll. Because of the age of the islands, they have undergone extensive erosion and subsidence of their basaltic rock foundations. Only Mokumanamana Island (Necker), Nihoa, La Perouse Pinnacle, and Gardner Pinnacles have substantial exposed basaltic rock substrate. Further to the northwest, the islands consist of sandy substrates derived from reef formations overlaying the original basalt. There are about 2,220 square kilometers (860 square miles) of coral reefs in State waters around the NWHI, and about 6,300 square kilometers (2430 square miles) of reef in Federal Exclusive Economic Zone waters around the atolls and reefs that are part of Hawai‘i (i.e., not including Midway Atoll and the submerged banks). Therefore, approximately 26 percent of the coral reefs of these areas are under State jurisdiction and management. Climate Rainfall and temperature are more consistent across and within these islands because of their small size. The winter season brings much larger sea swell. Precipitation averages about 50 to 75 centimeters (20 to 30 inches) per year. Land and Water Use All of the land in the NWHI is part of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge (HINWR), except Midway Atoll, which is managed as a separate National Wildlife Refuge, and Kure Atoll which is managed by the Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources as a State Seabird Sanctuary. All the islands are part of the County of Honolulu, except Midway Atoll which is not part of the State of Hawai‘i at all as it is a territory of the U.S. government. Waters out to ten fathoms (18.3 meters) deep around most of the islands (except to 20 fathoms deep around Mokumanamana Island (Necker)) are also part of the HINWR, so there is unique Federal-State co-management of the inshore waters. Federal waters from three miles (five kilometers) offshore to 50 miles (80 kilometers) offshore are part of the NWHI Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Human Landscape There is no real resident population besides a few HINWR staff on Sand Island at Midway, Laysan Island, and Tern Island at French Frigate Shoals. Historical occupation of Tern Island and Green Island at Kure Atoll by the Coast Guard, and Midway Atoll by the Navy, ended in the past 20 years, but left various environmental problems. Archaeological sites point to pre-historical occupation of Mokumanamana Island (Necker) and Nihoa. The principal economic driving forces in the NWHI today are Hawaii’s Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy 6-94 October 1, 2005 bottomfishing (one-third of the State’s bottomfish come from the NWHI), the Wildlife Refuge and Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve operations, and scientific research. ISLAND AND ATOLL SUMMARIES The following are brief summaries of the various island and atoll systems, from north to south. Kure Atoll, at the northwestern end of the archipelago, is the world’s northernmost coral atoll. About ten kilometers (six miles) in diameter and one square kilometer (0.4 square miles) in land area, Kure is a typical atoll comprising one major island, Green Island, and one or more smaller, intermittent sand spits. Maximum elevation is six meters (20 feet). It has about 32,375 hectares (80,000 acres) of reef habitat. Kure is approximately 2,100 kilometers (1,300 miles) northwest of Honolulu. The U.S. Coast Guard closed the LORAN navigation station on Green Island and left the site in 1992. Since then, the atoll has only been occupied during National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and State of Hawai‘i summer field camps. Kure Atoll is managed as a State of Hawai‘i Seabird Sanctuary. Bird and dolphin surveys, marine debris removal, and invasive vegetation control and native plant species replanting are the main management actions. Rats were eradicated from the island in the past. Introduced big-headed ants and scale insects are a potential threat as are introduced invasive plants. Toxic chemicals have been detected that are likely from the Coast Guard occupation. Hawaiian grouper are more abundant here in shallow water than in other parts of the NWHI. A large group of spinner dolphins lives in the atoll. Midway Atoll, located approximately 2,040 kilometers (1,270 miles) northwest of Honolulu, consists of two major islands (Sand and Eastern), small sand islets, and a fringing coral reef. It is about ten kilometers (six miles) in diameter and 6.5 square kilometers (2.5 square miles) in land area. Maximum elevation is four meters (12 feet). It has about 36,000 hectares (89,000 acres) of reef habitat. Midway was discovered in 1859 and claimed by the United States. Since that time, there have been considerable activities that have resulted in significant alteration of the physical environment. Projects have included blasting a ship channel through the coral reef, the installation in 1902 of a cable station (which led to the introduction of various species of plants and animals and the importation of an estimated 9,000 tons of topsoil for use in gardening), and the construction of an airport in 1935 by Pan American Airways. Midway also played a critical role in WWII. USFWS established the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge as an overlay refuge in 1988 through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Navy, and the atoll was transferred from the Navy to USFWS in 1996. Midway is managed as the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and is not technically part of the State of Hawai‘i. The world’s largest breeding colony of mōlī (Laysan albatross) nests here, as does the second largest colony of ka‘upu (black-footed albatross). The Refuge also contains important habitat for the monk seal, green sea turtle, large numbers of migratory seabirds, and a variety of coastal strand plants.
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